My dryer, after twelve years of faithful service, doing an average of ten loads a week (more like twelve to fourteen loads lately, but I’ve got to average in those first couple of years with no kids), has decided to rebel by burning up its motor beyond all hope of repair.
I cleaned its lint trap out after every single load. I wiped it down with Formula 409 at least every couple of years. And this is the thanks I get.
The worst part is that the refrigerator and clothes washer, which were purchased on the same day back in December of 1994, have been privy to the whole ordeal and are very likely to get some bad ideas. This whole rebellion thing is catching.
Not to mention that we bought a new stove just a couple of months ago. I haven’t blogged about the stove because I’m still too angry. Let’s just say that the new stove is not likely to set a good example for any young appliances that we bring into the home.
As a matter of fact, the stove probably started it all. My sweet, dependable, innocent appliances, like Olivia Newton-John’s character in Grease, were humming along obliviously until the Cool Rider of a new stove, the Danny Zuko of the appliance world, came along and corrupted them all.
The old stove, remnants of the People Who Lived Here Before Us, would have to be the equivalent of the crazy school secretary on Grease. Judging by the repair work these nutjobs left behind, the previous owners had to be off their collective rockers. The old stove had to go.
Anyway.
We need a new dryer. Do we swallow hard and buy a new washer, too?
Is the old washer going to mourn the loss of it’s long-time partner and follow close behind, or will the introduction of a new dryer inspire it to work harder to impress the new kid on the block?
Is this like college, where you get strait A’s for the semester if your roommate dies? (Is that really true?) Will expecting the washer to continue to work be asking too much?
Will the refrigerator and old washer get teased for their 1990s designs and be sad (and therefore too depressed to function properly), or will they enjoy a special swaggering seniority?
What about the dishwasher? It never did fit in. It’s held back from me from the beginning by not dispensing the Jet Dry properly. Is it now going to start experimenting with the harder stuff, like leaking or not dispensing the soap?
And I thought raising children was hard. The group dynamics of appliances are even more difficult.






































Get the pair. I didn’t and it bugs me every time I go into the utility room. If it works out like it did with me if you wait until later to buy a washer they won’t make one to match the ‘new’ dryer anymore.
Love, Sister #2
I think you were too kind and lenient. I treat my dryer like a slave, never clean the lint trap, and it’s still going after 10+ years. Of course, it has all kinds of quirks. The latest is that we have to clip a clothespin to the door shutting mechanism when ever we want to dry clothes so that it will think the door is closed. Which it is.
But I just don’t let any of my appliances forget who is master. And I deceive them into working hard for me whenever necessary.
That is so funny!
I think your real problem is that they are not pink. A “Pink Ladies” design on each one might to the trick.
ROFL This cracked me up.
And FWIW, I agree with your sister. That would drive me absolutely insane. Unless, of course, you’re the easy going type that wouldn’t be bothered by the fact that your washer and dryer don’t “match.”
Me? I’m going to have trouble sleeping tonight just *thinking* about that possibility.